OpenAI video app Sora hits 1 million downloads faster than ChatGPT
32 minutes ago Share Save Chris Vallance Senior technology reporter Share Save
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OpenAI says the latest version of its text-to-video artificial intelligence (AI) tool Sora was downloaded over a million times in less than five days - hitting the milestone faster than ChatGPT did at launch. The app, which has topped the Apple App Store charts in the US, generates ten second long realistic-looking videos from simple text prompts. The figures were announced in an X post from Sora boss Bill Peebles, who said the "surging growth" came even though the app was only available to people in North America who had received an invite. But its handling of copyright material - and the images of dead public figures - has attracted significant criticism online despite the growth.
The Sora app - which makes it easy for users to post videos they have created to social media - has resulted in a deluge of videos on social feeds. Some have included depictions of deceased celebrities such as musicians Michael Jackson and Tupac Shakur. Three days ago, Zelda Williams, the daughter of Robin Williams, asked people to stop sending her AI-generated videos of her father, the celebrated US actor and comic who died in 2014. A plea that press reports have linked to the popularity of Sora. An OpenAI spokesperson told US news site Axios in an email there were "strong free speech interests" in allowing the depiction of historical figures. But the spokesperson said, for public figures who were "recently deceased", authorized persons could request their likenesses aren't used - though it did not specify what counted as "recent".
Copyright grilling